Pope Pius XII (
Latin: Pius PP. XII;
Italian: Pio XII), born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli (March 2, 1876 – October 9, 1958), reigned as the 260th
pope, the head of the
Roman Catholic Church and
sovereign of
Vatican City, from March 2, 1939 until his death. Before
election to the papacy, Pacelli served as secretary of the
Department of Extraordinary Ecclesiastical Affairs,
papal nuncio and
cardinal secretary of state, in which roles he worked to conclude treaties with
European nations, most notably the
Reichskonkordat with
Germany. His leadership of the Catholic Church during
World War II and
The Holocaust remains the subject of continued historical controversy. After the war, Pius XII contributed to the rebuilding of Europe, and advocated peace and reconciliation, including lenient policies toward vanquished nations and the unification of Europe. The Church, flourishing in the West, experienced severe persecution and mass deportations of Catholic clergy in
Eastern Europe and
China.
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